Boston Dynamics’ Atlas stands at a Hyundai plant in Georgia. Credit score: CBS Information
Final night time on 60 Minutes, Boston Dynamics Inc. demonstrated how synthetic intelligence is enabling its Atlas robotic to conduct duties at new manufacturing facility of mother or father firm Hyundai Motor Group close to Savannah, Ga.
The marketplace for humanoids might attain $38 billion by 2035, predicted Goldman Sachs. As a lot as $4.6 billion was invested in humanoid builders in 2025, reported Forbes.
CBS correspondent Invoice Whitaker visited the brand new plant and Boston Dynamics’ headquarters in Waltham, Mass. He noticed that whereas the firm is working towards superhuman capabilities, Atlas and different humanoids usually are not but on the level of mass deployment.
Boston Dynamics, whose Spot quadrupeds are already in industrial deployments for amenities upkeep, high quality inspection, and safety, is a frontrunner within the humanoid race. Whitaker famous that it faces stiff competitors, significantly from quite a few startups with state funding in China.
“The Chinese language authorities has a mission to win the robotics race,” mentioned Robert Playter, CEO of Boston Dynamics. “Technically, I imagine we stay within the lead. However there’s an actual risk there that — merely by the dimensions of funding — we might fall behind.”
Hyundai acquired Boston Dynamics from SoftBank Group for $880 million in 2021 and mentioned in April 2025 that it plans to deploy tens of hundreds of its robots.
Boston Dynamics continues refining Atlas
When 60 Minutes visited Boston Dynamics in 2021, Atlas used hydraulics and was impressively agile for the time, however not but able to positive manipulation.
Since then, the corporate has launched an electrical model of the robotic (which gained a 2025 RBR50 Robotics Innovation Award) and developed a three-fingered gripper with tactile sensing. Atlas can stand utilizing the complete rotational talents of its joints, which don’t have wires like different robots that would impede that vary of movement.
Slightly than have people program them with algorithms, Atlas and different AI robots be taught by teleoperation and simulation.
“If that teleoperator can carry out the duty that we would like the robotic to do, and do it a number of instances, that generates knowledge that we are able to use to coach the robotic’s AI fashions to then later try this job autonomously,” defined Scott Kuindersma, vp of robotics analysis at Boston Dynamics (who was additionally a current visitor on The Robotic Report Podcast).
Whitaker tried on a motion-capture swimsuit to show Atlas to do leaping jacks, stroll, and gesture as he did. The information from that session skilled 4,000 digital robots in six hours. As well as, Boston Dynamics makes use of NVIDIA‘s AI processors and GR00T framework to assist its techniques perceive the actual world.
When the 5 ft., 9 in. (1.75 m) tall and 200 lb. (90.7 kg) robotic fell whereas attempting to do a duck stroll, it revealed security considerations round humanoids. Kuindersma famous, “We love when issues like this occur, truly. As a result of it’s usually a possibility to know one thing we didn’t know in regards to the system.”
Spot demonstrated its dance strikes and the same studying course of on America’s Received Expertise final yr.
Whereas no humanoid can but placed on garments or pour a cup of espresso and stroll with it, Kuindersma mentioned the trail towards such capabilities is now clear.
Hyundai plans to make use of and present extra robots
Hyundai’s new automotive plant in Georgia employs almost 1,500 individuals and makes use of greater than 1,000 industrial robots, however there may be nonetheless room for extra automation. 60 Minutes confirmed employees watching as Atlas practiced sorting roof racks with out human assist.
This was the primary time Atlas has been out of the laboratory doing actual work, Zack Jackowski, common supervisor for Atlas at Boston Dynamics, advised Whitaker. Hyundai final April mentioned it plans to purchase “tens of hundreds” of robots from the corporate.
“I believe we’re on monitor in regards to the growth of Atlas. To this point, it’s very profitable,” mentioned Heung-soo Kim, head of worldwide technique on the South Korean producer. “It’s a sort of the beginning of nice journey.”
Playter acknowledged that the character of labor will change with humanoid robots, which ought to take over repetitive or harmful duties. They first need to be made dependable and inexpensive, he mentioned.
“However these robots usually are not so autonomous that they don’t have to be managed,” famous Playter. “They have to be constructed. They have to be skilled. They have to be serviced.”
Hyundai plans to focus on its AI robotics technique and present Atlas publicly for the primary time at CES in Las Vegas at present, and The Robotic Report might be there to cowl it.
